Coin of the Day

A.I. loans for SMEs

(CRYPTO: WISH) WishFinance is an innovative company which utilizes blockchain and artificial intelligence to issue loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) such as retailers, beauty salons, and repair shops; all of which struggle to work with banks because of their lack of large assets. As of now, it's a challenge for SMEs to obtain loans, it's not profitable for banks to lend to SMEs, and alternative lenders offer loans with a high-interest rate and don't have their best interest at heart. The project has a transparent portfolio, which uses smart contracts to conduct proof of solvency (where cold storage options can be audited – something that exchanges like Kraken and Poloniex already do). Wish Finance promises to issue insured loans within 24 hours at affordable interest rates to SMEs and to support the local economy.

Bitcoin's price rose right past the $7,000 mark as Square announces they're accepting BTC; this is a preview of what's to come.

Hold onto your hats folk, things are about to ramp up really quickly. It was announced yesterday that the mobile payment service, Square, is going to start testing Bitcoin payments on their Cash application. On the app, you can buy and sell Bitcoin directly on your phone – although security is bound to be a larger concern for those who carry a full token worth. Though the trial is relatively limited, the whole crypto enthusiasts saw this as a beacon of hope and an opportunity to improve the user experience of purchasing and playing around with crypto. As we've reported before, the general consensus of the crypto community is that lack of knowledge and poor user interface are the two largest barriers to entry in the space. We completely agree.

While there's no doubt that payment systems are scrambling to integrate blockchain into their systems (see: MasterCard and others), certain companies are rising above the majority. The biggest news of the morning is that American Express is implementing blockchain-based payments using Ripple for the United Kingdom-based business. This is a big, big deal.

Private firms are gung-ho for crypto, while Wall Street still isn't convinced (even though they're probably mining Bitcoin in the background).

Yesterday, the Man Group, one of the largest hedge funds in the world, announced they're going to become involved in crypto trading. Awesome. This is apparently contingent on the CME Group's ability to deliver Bitcoin futures; a product that is mostly desired by traditional financial institutions as a way to feel in control of the volatile crypto market. The DBS Bank's group chief information officer (who recently called Bitcoin a "MMM Ponzi scheme") explained that with lower transaction fees, banks could develop more interest in the industry. Uh, yeah. Costless transactions will be inevitable; therefore, so are banks' involvement in crypto.

On the downside, India's Supreme Court asked its government to develop a regulation system around cryptocurrencies. At least they're taking crypto's integration seriously. Meanwhile, the European Securities and Market Authority reiterated the general consensus among governing financial bodies: ICOs are risky, and you can lose money. Proceed with caution.

In Zimbabwe, the Bitcoin black market is thriving. A single Bitcoin is going for a mind-numbing $13,000. Yikes.